Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle: The Chase Is On

Despite dominating for the majority of the game, Liverpool had to survive a couple of scares in order to come out as 2-0 winners against Newcastle. The visitors were denied a clear penalty when Lovren foolishly scythed down Perez in the box, and Mignolet was called upon to make a couple of top saves. In the end, though, Liverpool were very much deserving winners; the result leaves them just four points adrift of fourth placed Manchester City, whose recent rapid decline will give Rodgers’ side hope of an unlikely finish in the Champions League places.

The player of the match was undoubtedly Philippe Coutinho, who by now must be getting almost embarrassed by the number of man of the match and player of the month awards he’s picked up this season! He dazzled Anfield with his mesmerising skill, and epitomised his other-worldly passing ability with a ridiculously clever backheel that took out four hapless Newcastle defenders at once. Although he did not chalk up any goals or assists (which lots of football fans would have you believe means he had a bad game), he was instrumental in his side’s victory. The man who did open the scoring for us was Raheem Sterling – he too had an excellent game, causing the Newcastle back line all sorts of problems with his pace, quick feet and incisive passing as well as scoring excellently past them with a curling shot into the corner. However, he also highlighted just how far he still has to go before he is the fabled “complete attacker”: he missed two very simple opportunities to score, firing wide and then over from positions that were both less than 10 yards out. Even if his eventual plan is to leave Liverpool (which hopefully it isn’t – he is an immense talent with bags of ability), he can surely see that another season’s development at a club so renowned for handling young players well is the best thing for his game.

Another notable performance was that of Joe Allen. Aside from quietly getting on with controlling the midfield as he often does so well, he also bagged his first ever Premier League goal at Anfield to put the match to bed. Having survived a penalty scare towards the end of the first half and then been dominated for the first few minutes of the second, the stage looked set for Newcastle to punish Liverpool for all the chances that had gone begging earlier. However, the little Welshman was on hand to settle the Kop nerves with twenty minutes to play, smashing home an instinctive volley after Can, who had been up for a corner, headed the ball back into the danger zone.

Even the most pessimistic of Liverpool fans, perhaps those who were having flashbacks of what happened last time Joe Allen scored, had their fears alleviated ten minutes later when Moussa Sissoko was shown a red card for a second bookable offence. In truth he should probably have been given a straight red – his studs-up challenge on Lucas, who had a solid game, could have left the Brazilian seriously injured. Either way, it meant that the last ten minutes of the match was a formality: Newcastle just sat back and aimed to prevent Liverpool from getting a third. This they did, but Liverpool will not mind about that: the players doubtless left Anfield yesterday satisfied with their evening’s work.

It’s hard not to play a game of what might have been when looking at the table, but it does at least look a lot better than it might have done after this result. City’s slip-ups mean that the top four picture, which even Rodgers all but ruled out after the back-to-back defeats to United and Arsenal, is now not so bleak – the reds trail by just four points, with six games still left to play. Admittedly Liverpool would still have to be considered outsiders; a trip to Chelsea mars an otherwise easy run-in. However, in a season that has seen an almost unprecedented number of twists and turns in the race for fourth place, who knows what could happen?

Before turning their attention back to this late push for fourth, however, the players have the small matter of an FA Cup semi-final to think about. Tim Sherwood has blessed Villa with his fabled win ratio, and they have chosen a rather inconvenient time to hit such good form. Liverpool face a big challenge in trying to deal with the in-form Christian Benteke, and will have to be at their best to advance to the final. Hopefully they can go all the way though: call me a sentimentalist, but I think that Gerrard lifting the cup after his last game, which also happens to be his birthday, would be the perfect send-off for a man who has been a truly loyal servant to the club.

-James Martin

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